


A Pride of Many Colours

by Syrum



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Accidental Marriage, Established Gabriel/Sam Winchester, Gay Pride, Holding Hands, Idiots in Love, M/M, Non-Consensual Touching, POV Multiple, Possessive Sam Winchester, Pride, Pride Parades, Protective Sam Winchester, Public Display of Affection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2019-07-15
Packaged: 2020-06-28 09:19:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19809325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Syrum/pseuds/Syrum
Summary: It seemed like a great idea at the time; to drag Cas along to the pride parade Gabriel had been planning on attending anyway.Except, Sam had invited himself along.  And then suddenly Dean was coming with them as well.It was always bound to go downhill after that.  Still, it should be fun!





	1. Dean

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, I know it's not pride month and more, but _hand wavey_.
> 
> Beta read by the ever glorious [ScrollingKingfisher](https://archiveofourown.org/users/scrollingkingfisher), who also came up with the title because I am _ridiculously_ bad at those.

Gabriel  _ loved _ Pride. Not the sin, of course - that was more his brother’s forte - and certainly not the long-dead demon. He loved the month, the events. He loved the music, the parties, the colourful costumes and the ridiculously over the top decorations. He loved the feeling of unity and support and belonging that seemed to pervade everything and everyone involved in those thirty days. Most of all, however, he loved the  _ emotion _ of it all.

There was a lot of love shoved into those thirty short days. One month out of the year that thousands of men, women, both and neither could get together and  _ love _ , in their own ways. Not the physical sort of love - though there was plenty of that too - but the kind that seeped into your skin and nestled into your bones to keep you going for the remaining eleven months.

Or, well, at least until Christmas.

It reminded him, a bit, of the parties of old. Of a time before he retook his old name, when Loki was the title he responded to and the people drank to him and his mischief. He even joined them on occasion, sometimes as himself and other times as another human amongst humans. He wore male and female skin both back then, and enjoyed the pleasures of each option equally. The drink was better, back then. The food, not so much.

He hadn’t really intended on dragging the Winchesters along with him, just Castiel, and even then just to show his still ridiculously naive little brother just what he was missing. Except, he’d made the mistake of telling Sam the night before that he would be borrowing Cas for a while and not to wait up - which of course meant that Sam badgered him to find out where he was going until he gave in and told him.

The look on Sam’s face when he told him would have melted even the hardest of hearts. Or, well, that’s what Gabriel told himself as his was pelted, forcefully, with the full-beam of Sam Winchester’s infamous puppy-dog eyes.  _ No one _ could have resisted.

Admittedly, he hadn’t actually had any intention of resisting. And he hadn’t really  _ meant _ to keep where he was taking Cas a secret from the human who occasionally shared his bed, he just - hadn’t really given it a thought. Still, he reasoned, going with Sam might actually be  _ fun _ . The moose certainly knew how to have a good time, when he let himself, and Cas needed all the help he could get in  _ that _ department.

What Gabriel really hadn’t counted on, however, was for Cas to somehow - and he didn’t find out quite how until a little later on - persuade Dean to join them as well.

Straight-as-an-arrow-but-not-really, not-so-secretly-in-love-with-his-pet-angel, might-be-dating-Cas-we’re-not-sure-yet Dean Winchester.

Again, he wasn’t particularly bothered by the revelation that Dean would be coming along to a pride event with them, if anything it ensured their day out would be anything  _ but _ boring, even if Gabriel ended up making his own amusement by ribbing the guy mercilessly or setting up another of his brilliant prank wars while they were out.

Dean might not be game for that initially, but he usually got with the program pretty quickly.  _ Especially _ if Sam got involved; Dean never could resist getting one over on his younger brother. Having said that, if he tried the trick with the spiders again, Gabriel would turn the Impala pink. That one was  _ not _ funny.

“So, you chuckleheads ready to head out?” He grinned, strolling into the kitchen to find Cas and Dean with their heads bent together, whispering furiously about something. Well, Dean was whispering, Cas hadn’t quite gotten the message that whatever they were discussing was meant to be a private matter, and had kept his voice at the usual baritone.

Something  _ else _ the younger angel needed explaining to him, then. Societal cues really were not his forte - or the whole thing was one long, elaborate and utterly  _ brilliant _ practical joke. Which, if that  _ did _ turn out to be the case, Gabriel would have to elevate Cas to status of ‘favourite brother’.

“Yeah, sure, whatever.” Dean huffed in response, eyes still narrowed at Cas and sounding anything  _ but _ ready.

“C’mon Dean, it’ll be fun. I know for a  _ fact _ Martin’s Burgers’ll be there this year.” Sam tried, and immediately Dean’s face lit up.  _ The way to a man’s heart _ was surely penned for this  _ particular  _ man, Gabriel thought with a huff of laughter.

“The burger van from that time in Detroit?” How he managed to go from zero to ten so quickly Gabriel would never know, but the sparkle of excitement in Dean’s eyes at that was almost adorable.  _ Almost _ . Mostly, it was just ridiculous - he really was an overgrown child at times. “Oh man, Cas, you gotta try one of Martin’s burgers, they are nothing like anything else you’ve had.”

“I would like that very much, Dean.”

* * *

The parade was in full-swing by the time they got there, though Dean hadn’t stopped complaining about travelling by ‘angel air’ since they had landed and Gabriel was going to remove his tongue if he kept that up for much longer.

_ Temporarily _ . Because Cas needed it for whenever Dean finally got that stick out of his ass.

The whole event was much bigger this year - admittedly, Gabriel hadn’t been to this particular one for what must have been a good ten years, but he was pleasantly surprised by the changes. There were far more people than he had expected, for starters - some dressed in lavish costumes, others in mountains of glitter and sequins, but the majority in some semblance of normal clothing with their personal flags on proud display.

The music was loud, the costumes in the parade they had arrived in time to see were enormous and utterly glorious, flags littered the air and there were multi-coloured balloons as far as the eye could see. Gabriel was starting to wish he’d made more of an effort, but this wasn’t about him for once and his usual style for this sort of event would detract from the real reason they were there.

Which was still, regardless of their two additional tag-alongs, to get Cas to loosen up.

“Cas, why are we here?” Dean’s slightly panicked hiss drew his attention, along with that of several others. He shared a glance with Sam, who seemed to be on the same page and nodded slightly, the two of them moving to stand either side of their respective brothers, bracketing them in.

“You agreed to come with us, to this event.” Cas replied, and the look of confusion on his face might have been adorable if it wasn’t blatantly obvious to anyone else that Dean was on the cusp of some sort of panic attack.

“Yeah but you didn’t tell me  _ what _ I was coming to!”

“It is a pride parade.” As if that wasn’t obvious enough, and Gabriel rolled his eyes at the younger angel. Cas certainly wasn’t helping much with Dean’s current predicament, and as much as it would be endlessly amusing watching the whole thing play out so he could see Dean spontaneously combust under the pressure, that kinda defeated the object of being there in the first place.

“ _ I can see that now! _ ” Dean hissed through his clenched teeth.

“Do you not want to be here with me, Dean?” Cas asked as he stepped further into Dean’s space, a little too loud, causing several people to stop watching the parade going past altogether as they started to not-so-surreptitiously pay their little group a little  _ too _ much attention. “Are you not proud of me?”

This was not going the way Gabriel had wanted, not at all. If they weren’t careful, one of the onlookers was going to step in and say something to Dean or Cas and they might well end up with a riot on their hands. Or, well, a fist fight followed by being permanently banned from the event, and Gabriel didn’t want  _ that _ either.

“I- no-  _ yes _ \- that’s-” He struggled to find the words,  _ any _ words, swallowing repeatedly and gaping a little bit like a fish. “ _ That’s not the point, damnit! _ ” Turning on his heel, Dean stormed off into the crowd, fists clenched at his sides and tense enough that he was going to damage himself if he wasn’t careful.

“Dean, where are you going?” Sam called at his brother’s retreating back as Cas seemed to deflate a little at Gabriel’s side.  _ Damnit, Deano! _

“To get a burger.” Dean shouted back, stomping off with his bruised pride in tow and with a tiny pink-haired girl following a short distance behind.

* * *

“First time dating a guy?” Dean whipped around, ready to tell whoever was interrupting his downward-spiral of internalised dislike to  _ bug off _ , only to stop short when he caught sight of the girl.

Short being the definitive word. She was  _ tiny _ , barely up to his chest, and a colour-soaked bundle of pure energy by the way she bounced on the heels of her feet as she craned her neck to look up at him. 

“We’re not- I mean-  _ I guess _ .” He finally settled on simply stuffing his hands in his pockets and dutifully refusing to meet her eyes. Worse, he was  _ blushing _ , flushed to the tips of his ears as she outright  _ laughed _ at him.

“Well you’re just adorable.” She snickered, earning a scowl for her efforts. “Don’t worry so much, if anyone bothers you about it  _ here _ there’s enough of us to back you up.”

“Yeah, not really something I’m worried about.” Any attacker would need to be something pretty unique to take Dean down, or catch him by surprise. Not easy for a normal human, and he wouldn’t go out without a fight.

“Big guy like you with a pretty face? Trust me, I know  _ exactly _ what you’re worried about.” Dean’s hackles went up and he shot her a glare.

“The hell? You don’t  _ know _ shit about me.” He snapped and she just shrugged at him, unperturbed.

“Oh I do, ‘cause I’ve lived it as the other half of the relationship. Hurts like hell when your girlfriend won’t even hold your hand in public, until you start to understand the why behind it all.” She shrugged, seemingly entirely unoffended by his outburst. “Amazing how much damage words can do to a person. Anyone else might’ve walked, not me though. Even with all her hang-ups and her past and her shitty family, my Ellie was worth sticking around for.”

“I guess I’ve never seen that shit as being important.” It wasn’t as though he had ever been outright  _ told _ he shouldn’t want to do that sort of thing - and hell, you couldn’t walk down the street without having to dodge some couple or other with their fingers seemingly fused together.

He just...hadn’t really considered it.

“Don’t know as I’ve ever held  _ anyone’s _ hand before.” He admitted as they shuffled forward in line, more to himself than to this odd, loud little stranger who had inserted herself in his life without asking. 

“Maybe give it a go? Might not be your thing, but you won’t know unless you try.” And didn’t  _ that _ sound like a loaded statement. How many other ‘normal’ relationship things had he all but ignored because of who he was? Even with Lisa, he kept public displays of affection to an absolute minimum in case his past came back to haunt him and targeted her as a result.

Hand holding in public meant removing the use of one of his limbs, which meant he would have been at an immediate disadvantage if they had been attacked. A parting kiss at the mall as they stepped into different stores could have put a target on her back while he was too far away to help if something decided to grab her, or worse.

Even with all his cautiousness, the over the top protectiveness that had put a wedge firmly between them and signalled the end of their relationship long before he had admitted it to himself, he had made her into a target. He might as well have carved the bullseye onto her back himself.

But, Cas wasn’t Lisa. He wasn’t defenceless, he knew the risks and he understood - to a point - what the life of a hunter really meant. For all that she meant well, Lisa could never have fathomed the depth of the danger that was really out there for her by being with Dean. And, he hadn’t wanted her to. He hadn’t wanted her to see that life, beyond understanding that Dean needed to protect her, protect Ben. He certainly hadn’t wanted either of them to have to  _ live  _ it. Couldn’t willingly inflict that life on the woman he had loved.

What he wanted with Cas was much, much different. He wanted the angel at his side when on a hunt, wanted to bicker back and forth in the Impala for hours on end, to watch dumb horror movies and pick them apart and eat junk food in shitty diners where Cas insisted he didn’t need to eat but stole Dean’s fries anyway.

He wanted-

“Oh.” He breathed, eyes going wide. “Well, shit.”

“Wazat?” The girl asked, turning to him from where she was perusing the board attached to the side of the food van, and somehow while he had zoned out they had managed to move almost to the front of the queue. “Figure something out?”

“Yeah.” He turned to look at her and something in his expression must have caught her attention because she grinned up at him. “Yeah, I think so.”

* * *

This was new and different and utterly terrifying. Not the feeling itself - that had been there for years, nameless, just existing in his chest and nestling against his heart as though it belonged there. No, it was the  _ name _ of the thing that was making his pulse race and his palms sweat.

It was what he was about to do with his newfound clarity that terrified him.

“Here.” Cas seemed surprised when Dean shoved a paper-wrapped burger into his hands, and Dean couldn’t quite bring himself to meet Cas’ eyes just yet.

“Thank you?” And why did he have to make that sound like a question? Dean felt as though he was being watched as he devoured his own burger, head down and shoulders hunched, looking for all the world more like a cornered animal than the brave hunter he was supposed to be. Ugh, why couldn’t any of this be easy?

Except, it  _ was _ easy. Dean was the one making it difficult, he knew - but why break the habit of a lifetime?

“It was good, thank you.” Cas finally broke the silence that had stretched out between them. It hadn’t been uncomfortable as such, considering they had both had their mouths full at the time, but the low rumble of the angel’s voice seemed to ease the tightly-wound ball of tension in Dean’s stomach just a little.

He hadn’t even really tasted his own burger, he was that wound up, and wasn’t  _ that _ just a crime against nature?

“Yeah, don’t worry about it man.” Their shoulders brushed as the gathered crowd jostled against them, and while everything in Dean screamed at him to pull away he forced himself to remain still. Sam and Gabriel had moved further up the street at some point, Sam’s height advantage making him easy enough to keep an eye on even with the throngs of revellers.

It looked as though his baby brother was arguing with someone, face twisted in displeasure. The crowd parted ever so slightly and Dean was able to make out Gabriel’s much smaller shape plastered - apparently not against his will - to Sam’s side with one of Sam’s large hands splayed across the archangel’s back to keep him in place.

If Sam needed him - which was unlikely - he would make sure Dean knew.

Cas was a cool presence at his side, and as the backs of their knuckles brushed together Dean felt a rush of nervous adrenaline surge through him. Just because he  _ hadn’t _ done this before, didn’t mean he  _ couldn’t _ . Dean held onto the feeling and moved before he could really stop to think about it, lacing their fingers together.

The change was immediate. Perhaps not to a casual observer, but Dean had spent countless hours watching Cas and learning his mannerisms - the angel tensed against him for a moment, before relaxing into an expression of surprised wonder.

Those piercing blue eyes didn’t move from Dean’s face for the remainder of the afternoon. Which was just as well, really, because Dean found he couldn’t look away either.


	2. Gabriel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Gabriel's turn to reveal his feelings! Not easy for an eternities old archangel with abandonment issues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter starts at the point where Dean stomps off

“I’m sorry, Sam - but your brother is an incurable idiot.”

“Don’t know about ‘incurable’ but yeah, he is.” Sam agreed, watching Dean stomp off through the crowd. “And when are you ever sorry about anything?”

“Hey, I’m plenty sorry!” Gabriel mock protested. “I’m sorry about this, for one.”

“Sorry about wh-” The yelp that burst from Sam’s throat was anything but dignified as Gabriel pinched his ass cheek,  _ hard _ . He glared down at the smaller man, who plastered a look of abject innocence on his face that was anything  _ but _ believable. “Okay, now I  _ know _ you’re lying.”

“Rude.” They both turned their attention back to Cas, who was still frowning after Dean, though the hunter was no longer in sight having already been swallowed up by the crowd. “Cassie isn’t much better. Kid really needs to start taking what he wants, rather than waiting for Dean-o to get his shit together.”

“They’ve made some progress.” And they  _ had _ , really. Compared to the early days, their relationship had progressed substantially - Sam had found them cuddling on the couch once, though he would never tell Dean he’d seen them, and Dean had stopped bedding every pretty female he laid eyes upon.

Still, with the amount of issues his brother had and was still working through, perhaps dragging Dean to a pride parade hadn’t been one of their best ideas. Sam had been rather surprised when he found out Dean would be joining them - he had never imagined that Cas wouldn’t have told him what he was agreeing  _ to _ .

Sam had a sneaking suspicion that Dean would have been absolutely fine if they’d come without Cas.

“It’s been almost a decade, Samwich, that doesn’t count as ‘progress’.” Sam simply snorted down at the archangel, making certain to think  _ hypocrite _ loud enough that Gabriel couldn’t hope to miss it, and earned a scowl for his trouble.

Considering Gabriel’s rather debilitating commitment issues, he really shouldn’t be criticising anyone for moving too slowly, Sam thought.

“Whatever, I’m gonna go buy some cotton candy.” Gabriel huffed, before stomping off through the crowd, still scowling petulantly. Sam let him go - there wasn’t much that could really harm an archangel, and they didn’t need to be together at all times. It was safe enough.

Not that they were really ‘together’ at all. At least, not from Gabriel’s perspective.

“He’ll come around.” Cas’ low voice carried easily over the chatter of the crowd, and Sam smiled at the irony of it. Shouldn’t he be saying those self-same words to Cas? They were both attached to idiots, it seemed. “He likes you too much to leave at this point.”

“I know, I’m just worried it’ll take the rest of my life for him to ‘come around’.” They might be Winchesters, but they were still mostly human. If they were lucky, Sam and Dean might reach their eighties - but when were hunters ever lucky? Their sort didn’t get to live out a nice long retirement with a picket fence and a dog and grandkids. Sam would be lucky to reach fifty - and maybe that, there, was the  _ real _ problem.

How could he expect an immortal archangel to commit to him if all they could have was a handful of years together? He was being selfish, he knew, but Sam didn’t share well. Or, at least, not without the ‘sharing’ part being pre-arranged and mutually agreed.

“Perhaps, but at this point it is only in name.” Cas replied, and Sam wasn’t sure he would ever get used to the intensity of the angel’s stare. He wasn’t sure how Dean managed it. “His heart has been yours for a long time now, I don’t believe you need concern yourself with others.”

Well that was an interesting piece of information. He had assumed - based on how things had been when they had first started sleeping together - that Gabriel was still spending at least some of his time warming the bed of others whenever Sam wasn’t available, or wasn’t in the mood. If he hadn’t been- Cas cocked his head to one side slightly, as though listening, and Sam frowned.

“He is calling for you.” Cas finally said, sounding a little confused but not overly concerned. “He asks that you hurry.”

And while Cas might not have been worried, that set alarm bells ringing in Sam’s head. Turning on his heel, he pushed through the crowd in the direction that Gabriel had retreated in only minutes before. And really, how had he managed to get himself into trouble in such a short space of time? It was utterly ridiculous how he always seemed to manage it.

Except, this was Gabriel, so of  _ course _ trouble had found him.

“-not interested, so back off.” He heard Gabriel before he saw him, and while he didn’t sound overly  _ worried _ , he was fairly obviously irritated and Sam felt vaguely sorry for whichever poor bastard had thought it a good idea to bother a trickster-archangel with a penchant for deadly pranks.

“Aw c’mon sweetheart, don’t be like that.” Any sympathy he might have felt for the man went straight out of the window as soon as he laid eyes on the bastard. Sam’s blood seemed to boil in his veins as a surge of possessive anger shot through him.

“Is there a problem here?” Sam was practically vibrating with rage, attention fixed on the hand that had settled itself on Gabriel’s hip and was  _ squeezing _ . The stranger seemed utterly unconcerned with his arrival however, giving Sam a once-over and deciding he wasn’t worth paying any further attention to, predatory gaze flicking almost immediately back to a  _ very _ uncomfortable-looking Gabriel.

“Nothing  _ you  _ need to worry about.” The man was nothing special, though admittedly Sam’s opinion might have been coloured ever so slightly by the intense need he felt to  _ punch _ the guy. Maybe average height with a scruff of facial hair, he obviously worked out based on what Sam could see of his arms and chest in the loose tank top he was sporting, and clearly whatever he was taking had killed off any common sense he might have once had.

“Good, you won’t mind letting him go, then.” Swallowing down his temper, Sam forced himself into the state of mind he had developed out of necessity for when he was on hunts. A sense of calm focus washed over him as the man whirled on him, clearly ready for a fight.

“The fuck’s it to you?” The stranger pulled himself up to his full height, though he was still a good half a foot shorter than Sam and the effect was rather lost. Not that he seemed to care, lips pulled back in a snarl and Sam stepped up to the challenge without really pausing to think.

Something heavy and cool wrapped around the ring finger of his left hand, and it took all he had not to look down in surprise.

“My  _ husband _ doesn’t really like it when other people touch his things without permission.” Gabriel’s smirk was audible. At some point he had ended up practically sandwiched between the two posturing males, and with a twist he was able to break free of the stranger’s hold, pressing himself firmly up against Sam’s side. His left hand reached up to bury itself in the fabric of Sam’s tee, angled so that the afternoon sunlight glinted off the rose gold wedding band wrapped possessively around Gabriel’s ring finger.

Part of Sam still wanted to just deck the stranger, but another part wanted to ask Gabriel what the hell was going on. A third, rather instant part, wanted to bend down and kiss the archangel senseless to stake his claim, and the mix of the three was more than a little bit confusing.

“So I’d advise that you back off.” Sam finished for him, in lieu of any of his other whims, his own left hand splaying across Gabriel’s back to hold him firmly in place. Not that he could have kept Gabriel there if the archangel didn’t want to remain, just as the stranger with the bad haircut wouldn’t have been able to actually  _ hurt _ him. Sam was under no illusions on what was going on, and knew this was probably all just a game to Gabriel, but it wasn’t a game he particularly minded playing.

The stranger clearly had no sense of self-preservation, or was on something strong enough to wipe out whatever brain cells he had left - not alcohol, or Sam would have been able to smell it on his breath, but certainly something based on how his pupils had dilated. He pulled a fist back, form poor and too wide of a swing in the crowded street. Sam moved to block it, instinctively putting Gabriel behind him while still holding him close, yet before the blow could actually land the man was on the floor under what looked to be a biker, a security guard and a woman wearing a yellow sun dress.

“Huh.” Gabriel seemed as surprised as he was, peeking around Sam’s much taller form to watch as their attacker kicked and flailed. “That was - unexpected?”

“G’wan, git.” The woman shooed them off from where she sat with her knee in the small of the man’s back. “We got this asshat.”

“Er- thanks?” Sam found himself being dragged rather insistently away, Gabriel’s hand wrapped tightly around his own as they dodged through the crowd to one of the slightly quieter areas.

“Didn’t expect it to go that way.” Gabriel admitted, once they were at least vaguely alone.

“What  _ did _ you expect?”

“That he’d take one look at your handsome mug and back the hell off, for one. Didn’t think he’d be dumb enough to try to pick a fight.”

“And the rings?” He tried not to sound accusing, or defensive, yet Gabriel winced anyway.

“I’m not gonna get out of explaining that one, am I?” Gabriel huffed, and Sam shook his head with an amused little smile. “Look, Sam - I’m an  _ archangel _ . I know you think you know what that means, but I don’t think you do. And it doesn’t  _ matter _ that you don’t, not really. But I can see everything that you are, and I can’t even show you a little bit of what I am, and- fuck, I’m rambling.”

“You’re good at that.”

“Yeah, well, this sounded a lot better in my head. I don’t- look, don’t get me wrong, the whole commitment thing? Absolutely terrifying. Not kidding there, only thing I’ve ever really been scared of.”

“Yeah, I kinda gathered that much.” Pretty hard not to, when you’ve spent most of your adult life with a relationship-dodging archangel, and Sam had gotten over being bitter about that a  _ long _ time ago.

“Except it’s not, because the one thing more terrifying than committing to you,” Gabriel sucked in a breath, let it out slowly, grounding himself. “Is  _ losing _ you.”

“Gabe,” Sam pulled Gabriel to him, wrapping his arms around the archangel’s smaller shoulders, keeping his grip loose so that he wouldn’t spook him. It didn’t take much emotionally to set Gabriel running for the hills, and he had a habit of not reappearing for weeks at a time after Sam let himself get a bit too close. “I can’t promise you won’t lose me - what I do is  _ dangerous _ , you know that, fate decided before I was even born that my life wasn’t going to be a long one. But whatever time I have left, is yours.”

“I should be happy with that, shouldn’t I?” Gabriel’s laugh was hollow and perhaps a little wet, but he didn’t pull back, instead burying his hands into Sam’s shirt and holding on. “But I’m selfish and thoughtless, I hurt you more often than I want to and I can’t understand half of what you’re feeling because I’m not human.”

“You’re allowed to be selfish. But only if I’m allowed as well.” The tension in Gabriel’s shoulders smoothed out, but he didn’t let go. “Not gonna lie, when I saw that guy’s hands on you, I wanted to tear his throat out.”

“Oooh Samsquatch, getting all primal on me?” He leaned back at that with a grin, honey eyes sparkling with the beginnings of mirth. “That’s pretty hot, I gotta say.”

“Also, I think you’re meant to actually ask before sticking a ring on a guy’s finger.” The bubbling amusement turned flat in an instant and Gabriel grinned, though he didn’t pull away.

“And what would you have said?” Sam knew what this was; had been pretty much trained by the archangel - albeit unknowingly, on Gabriel’s part - what this meant. The barriers were going up, the walls he kept between himself and anyone who might want to care for him were strengthening in his mind, as Gabriel prepared himself for the pain he assumed was incoming.

He was acting a bit like an abused dog, and not for the first time Sam wondered precisely who had damaged him so badly that he  _ expected  _ to be hurt. And, also, if they were still alive enough for him to kill.

“I’d have asked who you were and what you’d done with my Gabriel.” 

“ _ Your _ Gabriel?” The amusement was back, albeit only a spark of it, but Sam took what he could get.

“Kinda hard to argue that point when we’re wearing matching rings, babe.” With a wiggle of his left hand, the ring caught the light - and really, he was surprised they weren’t a little more  _ ostentatious _ , considering Gabriel was the one who had created them. He might have expected diamonds or sapphires, something sparkly and over the top, not a plain band in rose gold which sat snug and warm against his skin.

“I can make them go away again Sam-a-lam, don’t test me.” He had no doubt that Gabriel would as well, the instant Sam asked him to unless there was a joke in there for him, or when the emotion behind the simple bands got to be too much. It made something in Sam’s chest clench, and he tugged Gabriel into another hug, burying his face in the archangel’s hair.

“Please don’t.” Sam hummed, breathing in the scent of the strawberry shampoo he used. “Let me pretend for a little while longer.”

“Ah, yeah, about that.” Gabriel sounded almost  _ guilty _ , and Sam tensed, knowing there was a fairly large chance he wasn’t going to like whatever came next. “I might have gone a little - overboard?”

“Gabriel, what did you do?” He pulled back as a sheet of thick paper appeared in his hand, taking a moment to try to understand what exactly he was looking at. “Is this- did you- are we  _ actually _ married?”

“It seemed like a good idea at the time!” There was a note of pleading in Gabriel’s tone, a slight whine that mingled with the protest as though he didn’t quite believe his own justification.

“Do we have to go over the whole ‘consent’ thing again?” Because he hadn’t been able to consent with Becky, Gabriel’s own behaviour hadn’t been exactly stellar in the past, and Sam didn’t like the thought of being taken advantage of  _ again _ . Not that he would have said no, but that wasn’t the point.

“No! Look, if you don’t want it-”

“I didn’t say that.”

“-I can undo it, but I figured if that Becky bitch-”

“You’re never going to let that go, are you?”

“No, I’m not, and as soon as you let me I’m sending her to the fucking  _ moon _ with half an oxygen tank and a list of reasons why she deserves it. But if  _ she _ can get hitched to you legally then why can’t I?” They lapsed into silence for a long moment, Gabriel’s chest heaving with breaths that he shouldn’t need and his cheeks coloured high with emotion he shouldn’t be allowing himself to feel.

Sam felt - oddly relieved, if anything.

“Are you-  _ jealous _ of Becky?” He asked, vaguely amused but also more pleased than he really should be. He had, technically, still been seeing Gabriel at the time of the Becky incident. Technically, because everyone - bar Sam - had thought Gabriel dead at that point, and it was only through some fairly intense pleading and finally an ultimatum on Sam’s part which stopped him from tracking her down, killing her messily and revealing to the world and all that he hadn’t died at Lucifer’s hand.

“No!” Gabriel protested, a fraction too quickly, before amending, “Okay yes, I am. She gets to be your wife and I’m-”

“You want to be my wife, Gabe?” He had meant it in jest, almost - yet as soon as the words slipped out Sam was near enough floored with how much he wanted the answer to that question to be a resounding ‘yes’. Wife, husband, both, something else entirely - it didn’t matter as long as Gabriel agreed.

It might be the most bizarre proposal in history, but he was a Winchester. They didn’t do normal. And besides, they already had the rings, and the paperwork had been sorted.

“ _ Yes _ .” Gabriel threw his hands up, frustrated and desperately trying to cover up just how nervous he was. “I’ll even wear the damn dress.”

“Would you?” Sam’s thoughts had skidded to a complete stop at that little idea, and if Gabriel believed he was going to get away from an admission of that magnitude quite so easily then he really needed a reminder on just who he was dealing with.

Because Gabriel, in a white dress, with stockings and panties to match?  _ That _ was something Sam intended to get behind as quickly as possible. Quite literally, in fact.

“What?” The worry had given way to confusion, and the improvement was noticeable, at least to Sam. He let his lips quirk up into a smile, aiming for innocent and likely missing the mark by a good mile.

“Wear the dress for me, if I asked?” His smile must have held a hint of the myriad of ideas running through his mind at that, or his thoughts were being a little too loud again, because Gabriel laughed. It was honest and open and the most glorious sound Sam had heard in a very long time.

“You’re a kinky bastard, Sam Winchester.” Gabriel replied with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

“I don’t hear a no,  _ Gabriel Winchester _ .” Sam grinned, and kissed him.

* * *

Cas broke eye contact when he felt Gabriel’s approach, frowning as he turned to look at the two returning figures. Something was different, something had changed - he could feel it in the calm happiness which radiated off Gabriel and, less intensely, from Sam. He could see it in how they moved, connected in a way that went beyond physical, and he could hear it in the happy chatter of their conversation.

Gabriel was perched happily upon Sam’s back so that he could see over the crowd, though he seemed to be paying very little actual attention to the proceedings, arms loosely slung over Sam’s shoulders and dangling in front of his chest. Sam’s own arms had wrapped under Gabriel’s legs, and despite his fairly hefty weight, seemed to have no trouble carrying the archangel.

“Gabriel, Sam.” He greeted once they drew close enough, and Dean’s fingers tightened against his own. Ah, there! That was it, then. “Congratulations.”

“What?” Dean’s brow furrowed in confusion for a second, before he caught sight of the twin bands wrapping each of their brothers’ left index fingers. “...the fuck, Sammy?”

“It’s a long story.” Sam grinned, and Dean relaxed a little under the happiness that was radiating from Sam’s smile. “I’ll tell you when we get home.”


End file.
